Blacklist´s Mastering Tone Test

[acappa]

Hi everyone, at last mastering is also finished so I´d like to hear some of your opinions in order to reach the best results.
Please listen to these two songs and compare it with today´s best productions (Machine Head, Chimaira, As I lay Dying, Arch Enemy...)
RMS is set to -9,3 db I can´t put the song higher without degradation.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=d8450db071c5061baaca48175a79d1c3e04e75f6e8ebb871

My mastering chain is:
ReQ 2 bands (Hi pass 30 Hz, other band deactivated)
LinEq with some Eq
Linear Multiband Compresor LinMb
L2

Any comments??? Comparing to Chimaira´s Resurrection, mine has less RMS but the wave seems to be higher when inported into Sound Forge....?? Any answer???

Thanks you all

 

[yanix]

could you upload your song on www.getdropbox.com/ or www.soundclick.com

 

[acappa]

Reload in:

- http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=d8450db071c5061baaca48175a79d1c3e04e75f6e8ebb871 (320kbps)

- www.soundclick.com/blacklistspain (128 kbps uke

 

[SkyMan666]

Just quick note.

Sounds good to me, but double bass parts are pumpin' too much (at least for me).... Try less compression... Or are just my (re)tired ears?

Keep it rockin'...

Regards, Samo

 

[nwright]

sounds good to me. Plenty loud enough, and the sound is good!

 

[punkrockacademyfightsong]

Overall volume sounds decent, low end sounds good too, but there's something really annoying in the high end. I think the biggest problem is the cymbals having to much ultra high end. and the master doesn't breathe in the high end which makes it a big spray of high frequencies coming at your ears.
I'd suggest you roll of 3 dB's above 8 kHz on all cymbals in the mix. Then bypass or back of a lot on the compression on the high end and high mids too in LinMB. If you need more sparkle I'd look into a good exciter / spectralizer to add some HF harmonics to the mix instead of compressing and boosting the high end.

 

[Sickan]

The hihat and cymbals are waaay to high, lower them or just roll of some highs if you want to keep some body.
I think you can turn down the reverb/delay on the vocals and maybe lower them a bit.
The guitartone seems very nice tho.

 

[acappa]

Thank you very much for your support guys! I have the same feeling about the high end....so I´ll try to fix it ASAP
Oh, I almost forgot it, I have also the impression of that L2 is limiting too much the output, and I can hear some degradation...maybe for a "home mastering" -10dbs RMS is enough and sound more natural than my -9db RMS master....
Maybe using a Tracks clipper or a similar plugin will help to reach these -9db without sounding so artificial....any idea of a plugin that helps me to reach one more db withount degrade??

 

[Josh Burgess]

Thank you very much for your support guys! I have the same feeling about the high end....so I´ll try to fix it ASAP
Oh, I almost forgot it, I have also the impression of that L2 is limiting too much the output, and I can hear some degradation...maybe for a "home mastering" -10dbs RMS is enough and sound more natural than my -9db RMS master....
Maybe using a Tracks clipper or a similar plugin will help to reach these -9db without sounding so artificial....any idea of a plugin that helps me to reach one more db withount degrade??

GVST GClip or Stillwell Audio Event Horizon

 

[acappa]

Thank you JoshuaLogan, any idea if it must be before/after Limiter, or in a special position??

 

[Josh Burgess]

Thank you JoshuaLogan, any idea if it must be before/after Limiter, or in a special position??

Sometimes, I don't even use a limiter, but if you want to, put it after the soft clipper you use... just don't lower the threshold much at all on it to avoid squashing everything... the soft clipper does most of the work anyways..